I need some scene shop assistance

[featherynscale]

I know some of you guys are theatre tech and engineering types, maybe you could help me out. Or at least, we could argue about this, which is usually at least fun, if not actually productive. Here's what I need:

I'm working on a float for the Snake Saturday parade. I need to come up with a way to build the bow of a pirate ship -- the design calls for the front end of the boat to protrude from a flat panel, on which the rest of the boat will be painted, trompe l'oeil style. The bow of the ship must be three-dimensional, and I'll give bonus points if at least one person can stand in it.

If you were building this, how would you do it?

Comments

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

While I'm still thinking about the prow itself(looking for something other than carving it froma large felled oak) the planks of the ship could be thin plywood (or even veneer) soaked for 24 hours, then nailed/screws in over a frame with overlaps. 1/4" plywood used to be used for SCA shields, but you don't need it to withstand impact. The plus side to this is that it takes a stain and is wood. The alternative is to hit Fantastik Plastics up by I70 and shop for plastic sheets that are similar to veneer.

Because trailers often have that Tyr shaped head to them, you can easily build a stand inside of your bow fascade out of 2x4s and have it bolted to the frame.

When we did our airplane, it was just a profile cut from MDF siding. Much easier and lower budget. If it was going to be re-usable we would have gone fancier, but the JoCo Faire floats are usually turned into Fall campout fires. 8-)

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I am figuring on doing some soaked and formed plywood. I'm just sort of stumped on the frame/prow angle. I think I can cut some ribs out of thicker ply or MDF, but they're not going to be very sturdy for attaching things to...

[zylch.livejournal.com]

MDF is crap, use luan!

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking that the side-ribs only have to help bow out the sides... they don't have to bear weight... so PVCor even PEX could help there.

Sandwiched floor-weight plywood bound with Marine glue could make you something pretty damned stout as a 6x6. Using 3/4" plywood it would take 8 layers to get to 6", and fully solid pieces would not be required as long as you offset joins.

If you use gorilla glue it will be even stronger, but you'll have to clamp it tight, Gorilla glue tends to shift unclamped wood quite a bit.